


Crows, Kitchens, and Hot Cocoa

by Jackson_Overland_Frost



Series: Ectober 2019 [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Spirits, Crow Spirit Dani, Crow Spirit Danny, Dani is a little paranoid, Ectober 2019 (Danny Phantom), Ectober Week 2019 (Danny Phantom), Fluff, Gen, Hot Chocolate, Kinda, Tili Tili Bom (Russian Lullaby), and also you literally don’t need to know anything about spirited away to read this, and theres a lot of “normal” crows too, but shhhh don’t tell anyone, crow language, okay, possibly takes place in the Spirited Away universe, they’re crows, try not to question it too much, vague references to faeries, vague references to waystations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 20:16:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21214448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackson_Overland_Frost/pseuds/Jackson_Overland_Frost
Summary: Day Four: Artifact/Nursery RhymeA figure emerges from the darkness of a shadowy alley. It’s been decades since he’s been on the human side of the Spirit Gate. Did you know that chocolate is toxic to birds?





	Crows, Kitchens, and Hot Cocoa

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to write something creepy, but I’m actually physically unable to and this ended up being pure indulgent sibling fluff instead. I really like this AU, actually, and if I have the chance I may play with it a little bit more in the future. 
> 
> Note: Bold text is crow-speak.

The shadows in an alleyway rippled, like a still pond disturbed by a well thrown pebble. From where the metaphorical pebble landed, a figure rose from the darkness, a figure made  _ of _ darkness, shrouded in a hooded black cloak with feathery black hair and piercing blue eyes the color of the sky in winter. He was young, worryingly pale skinned, with dark patterns spiraling down his arms, patterns depicting blinking dark-lashed eyes, and rustling barbed wire, and shivering feathered wings. It had been years, decades since he’d been on the human side of the spirit gates, decades since he’d seen a human at all, decades since he’d had to hide his wings. And they were hidden now, pressed up against his skin so that the only way you could tell that they weren’t just intricate inked tattoos was by the way that they fluttered with any passing breeze. 

Of course, he hadn’t particularly  _ wanted _ to leave the spirit world. Too many bad memories to deal with on this side of the gate, customs changing too fast to keep hold of, and so he just hadn’t bothered coming. His sister had insisted, however, and being one of the few people he trusted, he had obligingly crossed the gate to meet her. And so, he emerged from the shadows of the empty alleyway and onto the sidewalk, his cloak melting away as he left the relative safety of the darkness, leaving him in jeans and a black leather jacket, a messenger bag at his side and his hair tied back has he walked towards the warm-lit windows of suburban houses. 

_ Tili tili bom _

_ Close your eyes now _

_ Someone’s walking outside the house _

_ And knocks on the door _

He checked the ripped piece of parchment in his pocket for the address as he walked. The street lights flickered and cast shadows of huge winged figures out behind him, which murmured among themselves as he walked. The sun had set an hour ago, but still crows lined the power cables on either side of the street, those that couldn’t find room perching on tree branches and porch railings. They cawed at him happily- it was rare that one of his kind could be found around here, besides his sister of course, whom they knew, but a crow can sense another crow from miles away. He paid them no mind and continued down the way, watching the houses as he passed them one by one. 

Eventually he came to a wood frame house painted blood red, the shutters and door painted black. Strings of juniper hung in every window, along with the wavering flames of black candles. Wind chimes made of fairy quartz and scraps of red paper hung in the veranda, silk string was tied to the railings, and whirligigs spun in the yard. Seashells and rowan hung above the doorway, sage and tomatoes grew in the garden, and the entire house was lined with daisies and forget-me-nots. All in all, it was the most magically protected house that didn’t use actual magic he had ever seen in his  _ life _ . Ignoring every twinge he felt in his skin as he passed ward after ward, he grasped the iron knocker and tapped it against the oak wood door. 

_ Tili tili bom _

_ The nightbirds are chirping _

_ He is inside the house _

_ To visit those who can’t sleep _

The crows continued to caw, fluttering closer to the house as footsteps approached the door. They swooped down around him to land around him, perching on the railing or the posts in the yard, even standing on the roof and peering over the rim to look down at him. Some were almost as large as ravens, some were as small as sparrows. All of them had oil spill-dark feathers, all of them cawed out calls of welcome, and all of them were here to see crow Ghost Wind’s brother, here to visit their friend and relative. 

When the door creaked open, the birds broke out in a cacophony of cawing, probably waking up the entire street, and heard by the whole town besides. His sister stepped out, her own hair tumbling down her back, messy and feathery, interrupted with thin braids of mixed black hair and beads strung on green string. She was wearing black cotton pajamas, and she grinned at him, coming out onto the porch with him. 

_ He walks _

_ He is coming  _

_ Closer… _

“ **Hey guys,** ” she told the birds around them, their noises dying down as soon as she began to speak. Her own caws were soft and syllabant, the closest human vocal cords could get to true crow-speak. It was a comforting sound, one he hadn’t heard since he’d last been on this side of the spirit gate, decades ago. There were no crows in the spirit world, not of the mortal variety, not of the variety that couldn’t understand human speak. He hadn’t heard his sister speak like this for far longer- in fact this was the first time he had heard her voice for five years, the last time being when she’d last visited him in the spirit world to give him this house’s address and to invite him to visit. “ **This is my brother, Cold Spirit. Told you he would come and visit us.** ”

“ **Greetings, my relatives** ,” he cawed at the crows. They cawed back, greeting and welcoming him to the area. He turned to his sister. “Hi Danielle. Are we going inside, or are me just going to stand on the porch all night, like  **idiots** ?” The word ‘idiot’, in crow, sounded like  _ hkrrrrrááá _ , pitched upwards, with an á rolled the same way you would roll an R. It was a fun word to say. The crows laughed, up in the trees, along the railings and posts and standing on the roof. 

“The only  **idiot** here is you,  **brother** . Why so formal all of a sudden? Call me Dani if you want to act like a human, and call me  **Ghost Wind** if you want to be a crow. Stop half-assing things all the time, hmm?”

“My dearest sister, I’m literally half crow. So are you.”

“And half ass, obviously. Come inside, so that our relatives don’t think we are being  **idiots** , as you so eloquently put it.” 

_ Tili tili bom _

_ Can you hear him closing in? _

_ Lurking around the corner _

_ Staring right at you  _

Dani’s kitchen was tucked into a corner of the house so that she could have a brick oven to cook “proper” bread in. She puttered around it, pulling chocolate chips, cinnamon, and peppermint oil out of various cupboards, and taking milk out of the fridge. Turning on the stove, she began to heat milk in a small pot, scooping chocolate into two mugs. 

“You better enjoy  **chocolate** since you can,” Dani told him, sitting him down at the kitchen table. The word chocolate, in crow, stemmed from the word ‘poison’, and was pronounced exactly the same except for a clarifying ‘ _ kkc _ ’ sound at the beginning. “Our relatives don’t have the  **luxury** , so you better appreciate it since you’re able to.”

“I have no  **mate, shinies,** nor  **chicks** , so by the crow definition I have no  **luxuries** at all.”

Dani laughed. “Yeah, but you can have  **hot poison** ,” she teased. 

“Wow,” he said, completely deadpan. “I’m so pleased with myself. Warm  **poison** , all for me.”

They both laughed as Dani poured the hot milk over the chocolate and stirring it with a spoon, dripping peppermint into one and cinnamon into the other. 

_ Tili tili bom _

_ The silent night hides everything _

_ He sneaks up behind you _

_ And he is going to get you _

He stood up from the table, leaving his jacket draped across the back of the chair, and padded softly into the kitchen, standing behind Dani and looking around. Even here, everything is obsessively warded, cupboard handles made of iron charmed against rust, rough grains of salt scattered in every corner, a sage candle burning on the counter, and chimes in every doorway. He knew, somewhere around his spine area, that window, each curtain when pulled closed, the thin walls, were all warded from human perception as well. This was one of the few places on the human side where spirits were truly safe, this along with the dwindling number of waystations, or the occasional peace law nature preserve. 

It had been a while since he’d had to hide his wings, and now in the safety of his sister’s home, he stretched his arms above his head and let them unfurl from his body with a feathery  _ thwap _ and a sound like thunder. Dani jumped, almost knocking over one of the mugs before catching it, whipping around. 

“Don’t sneak up behind me and make loud noises like that!” She lectured him while he laughed. “It’s not funny! If you make me spill one of these mugs, you’re the one that’s not getting hot chocolate tonight,  _ and _ you have to  **clean** the kitchen.” The word clean, in crow, was the same as the word ‘arrange’- like  _ ‘your turn to arrange the shinies in the nest so that the chicks don’t get at them _ ’ or ‘ _ can you arrange for me to meet with Old Pine next sunrise? _ ’. It was a common word, as crows were always going around arranging this or that, somehow without wanting to go around arranging this or that. 

_ He walks _

_ He is coming _

_ Closer… _

He grabbed his cup from the counter, gave it a swirl, and ruffled his sister’s hair affectionately. He took a took, purposeful drink, and Dani did the same. 

“Thanks for inviting me over, Dani. It’s good to be back.”

“Glad to have you visiting, Danny. It feels like it’s been forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I cheated a little and used a lullaby instead of an actual nursery rhyme :P. The one featured is Tili Tili Bom, the creepiest Russian lullaby I could find on short notice. For this story I used the english translation featured in the YouTube video, also, but its a really pretty and incredibly creepy song :). 
> 
> Please comment, I respond to and appreciate each and every one, and remember to feed the crows! 
> 
> -Jack <3


End file.
